CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Andrew Miller only throws a fastball and a slider, but really, it's so much more than that.

He placed a backdoor slider on the outside corner to Yolmer Sanchez for a called third strike in the sixth inning on Sunday. Sanchez shook his head in the batter's box before he retreated to the dugout.

In the next at-bat, Miller bounced a slider in the dirt, but Tim Anderson still gave chase for strike three. On Friday night, he dropped Avisail Garcia to one knee on a swinging strikeout.

Carlos Carrasco left the tying run on second base for Miller when the southpaw entered on Sunday.

Miller now sports a 0.29 ERA (one earned run in 31 1/3 innings). He logs scoreless innings and it barely budges because it's so low.

Here are a handful of thoughts on the Tribe.

1. Mixing it up: Miller has thrown his slider about 58 percent of the time this season, and his fastball the other 42 percent, according to Brooks Baseball. That's been the trend for the last few seasons.

2017

Fastball: 42 percent

Slider: 58 percent

2016

Fastball: 39 percent

Slider: 61 percent

2015

Fastball: 45 percent

Slider: 55 percent

2014

Fastball: 57 percent

Slider: 43 percent

2013

Fastball: 57 percent

Slider: 43 percent

His average fastball has traveled 94.7 mph this season, compared to 95.4 mph last year and 95.1 mph in 2015.

2. Busy parrot: It might be wise to wear a helmet or some body armor if strolling through the Gateway Plaza or along E. 9th Street or if swimming in Lake Erie while Edwin Encarnacion is batting. He had a rough first six weeks of the season. There's no disputing that. But he has attempted to atone for it over the last 17 games.

Encarnacion, who struck the pedestrian bridge above the home run porch with a controversial foul ball on Sunday, has been powering pitches to and beyond outfield fences with regularity of late.

Over his last 17 games, Encarnacion has produced a .361/.409/.672 slash line, with five home runs and four doubles.

3. Work to do: His recent surge doesn't erase his miserable start, of course. His numbers for the season stand at .246/.354/.449, above-average marks when considering the entire league.

The Indians didn't commit $60 million to him with an .803 OPS in mind, though. Take a look at Encarnacion's annual OPS since 2012:

2012: .941 (6th in the majors)

2013: .904 (11th)

2014: .901 (8th)

2015: .929 (8th)

2016: .886 (20th)

2017: .803 (73rd entering Sunday)

Still, he's heating up, and, at last, the Indians could have an imposing force in the middle of their lineup.

4. Have a day: The last time Erik Gonzalez found himself in the starting lineup, he contributed three hits and scored a pair of runs. He went 10 days before he received another start, but on Sunday, he delivered a couple of hits, recorded his first major-league RBI and he looked like a natural at second base.

"He was in the middle of everything," said Tribe manager Terry Francona.

Gonzalez replaced Michael Martinez as the Indians' utility player nearly a month ago. He has played sparingly in that role, quite an adjustment for a 25-year-old conditioned to daily at-bats in the minors.

"Last year, it was a little bit difficult," Gonzalez said. "This year, I feel more comfortable, because last year was my first time doing that, one at-bat in a week or something like that. This year, I prepared my mind for that job."